Best Western El Cid, Avenida Lopez Mateos 993, Ensenada. Modestly attractive motel in the middle of the main tourist district. 800-780-7234 hotelelcid.com.mx

In Valle de Guadalupe:

Endemico; Km. 75 Ensenada-Tecate Highway, Valle de Guadalupe. Pricey but ultra-trendy, with tiny, box-like, modern cabins on a hill with a beautiful view. Not for those with mobility problems. 800-337-4685 designhotels.com/endemico

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If your ideal vacation involves driving around the Napa Valley in the back of a limo, rubbing elbows with wine snobs, then you should stop reading right now. Because there's nary a snob in this story at all.

Truth be told, though I've traveled the world, I'm still a low-rent, unpretentious gal who likes a bargain and enjoys meeting friendly locals much more than rubbing shoulders with the upper crust.

I want to drink good wine and eat delicious food. I want to clink glasses and laugh a little too loudly with new friends. I want to drive through soul-soothing pastoral valleys, winding between low, rolling coastal hills covered with row upon row of grapevines, breathing fresh air and feeling the city stress leaving my body.

That's why I'd always been interested in visiting Baja's picturesque Valle de Guadalupe, which is just over the border, on a highway between Ensenada and Tecate. I continue to love Mexico, despite its well-publicized problems. And at 11 pesos to the dollar, there are plenty of bargains to be found.

I finally had a chance to visit in May. And I'm already plotting my return.

On our recent trip, we drove five hours south from Costa Mesa, crossed the border at San Ysidro, and then spent the night in the port city of Ensenada. We started our wine tour the next morning.

Even though the Valle de Guadalupe still feels small and friendly, it has become increasingly trendy, with food-and-wine experts from everywhere traipsing down to check out reports of a newly happening food-and-wine scene. Grapes here are grown at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,250 feet, with hot days punctuated by cool nights and mist rolling in from the sea.

Everyone from TV food host Rick Bayless to influential newspapers like The New York Times has made the pilgrimage here, including former Wine Spectator editor James Suckling, who has been called "one of the most powerful wine critics in the world."

South of Southern California

We headed for Baja on a Friday morning, crossing the border around noon, going through an all-new Mexican border facility that will surprise people who haven't visited for a while. This much more sophisticated setup has arriving cars drive through a system of stoplights, which will indicate whether you drive straight through or pull over into a secondary inspection area for a look by Mexican immigration agents.

We got the green light, drove through Tijuana and onto the scenic Highway 1 toll road that offers less traffic and more picturesque views than the regular highway.

We spent the night at the noisy San Nicolas Hotel – dodging what seemed like 10,000 polite but loud teenagers staying there for some rowing event – before embarking on our tour the next morning. Ensenada, always known for fresh seafood caught hours earlier in the bay, has now seen the opening of several tasting rooms and restaurants that feature wines to go with their upscale menus.

Even though I know Ensenada and coastal Baja, I wasn't sure how easy it was to find the wineries, so I hired a wine guide, Fernando Cuevas, to pick us up at our hotel in Ensenada and give us a tour.

Cuevas, a former English teacher who quit to follow his bliss on the wine trail, showed up a few minutes early, at 10 a.m., and ushered us into his minivan for the 20-minute drive onto Mexico's Highway 3 from Ensenada to Tecate, which is now designated as the Ruta del Vino.

I'd agreed to pay him $120 to take us on our private all-day wine adventure.

Related Links

The evening mist rolls over the vineyards in the Guadalupe Valley (Valle de Guadalupe) near Ensenada. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
L.A. Cetto has an elegant tasting room which features its wide choice of wines produced in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Restaurante Hacienda has magical spaces for gatherings and celebrations. Initially a nursery, the venue now has a restaurant and separate tasting area for its Don Victor liqueurs. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
L.A Cetto is a commercial winery that ships its wines all over the world. This is the largest winery in the Guadalupe Valley and offers tours of its large facilities. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sol De Media Noche is a busy stop in the Guadalupe Valley. The family-owned business serves up homemade top-notch cheeses, breads, marmalades and salsas to pair with their own wines. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Visitors leave the charming wine cellar after a tasting at Tres Mujeres in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sol De Media Noche has a home-like ambiance. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tom Kolbo, left of Puerto Nuevo, brought his son-in-law, Dan Schunk and daughter Kari Schunk to Restaurante Hacienda to experience Don Victor liqueurs. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A photo of Russian immigrants in the Valle de Guadalupe. Russian immigrants arrived to escape czarist persecution. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The wine cellar at Tres Mujeres makes for a quaint setting in rolling vineyards. The wines are made by hand by three women who partnered together. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ollie DeLa Cruz, left, and Charlie Thompson, right, joined a wine tour that stopped at Sol De Media Noche in the Guadalupe Valley. Thompson is from Costa Mesa. The tasting room serves generous morsels of homemade top-notch cheeses, breads, marmalades and salsas to pair with their own wines. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Alejandro Lopez Ramos is the manager of the tasting room at L.A. Cetto in the Guadalupe Valley. L.A. Cetto is both the pioneer winery and largest in the valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
L.A. Cetto is visited by dignitaries and celebrities including one of the princes of Jordan, far right. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sol De Media Noche is a very busy tasting room in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Guadalupe Cortes owns Sol De Media Noche with her husband Jose Uribe. The couple makes artisanal cheese, bread, marmalades, salsas and wines in their home. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Monte Xanic has a modern tasting room in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A dog greets visitors to Monte Xanic in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tres Mujeres on a wall in the wine country outside Ensenada, Mexico. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Guadalupe Valley outside Ensenada is a short drive from downtown. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Yvette Vaillard, one of the three female partners of Tres Mujeres, stands outside the quaint wine cellar where tastings take place. Tres Mujeres (Three Women) make all of their wine by hand in the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, Mexico. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The pioneer in the Guadalupe Valley, L.A. Cetto exports wine all over the world. Although a commercial winery, the place has a family history that leads back to Italy. Tours are offered at the winery. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A vendor sells young grape bushes outside Sol De Media Noche in Francisco Zarco in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Restaurante Hacienda began as a nursery. They later added a restaurant, and most recently opened a tasting area for its liqueurs under the Don Victor label. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The outdoor tasting room for Don Victor liqueurs is in Restaurante Hacienda. The artisan liqueurs include; pecan, pomegranate, tamarind and much more. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Wine barrels with handwritten notes from visiting celebrities at L.A. Cetto in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Restaurante Hacienda has a Don Victor liqueur line that is made by Victor Manuel Gonzalez Partida, using only his sense of smell. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
L.A. Cetto is the oldest and largest winery in the Guadalupe Valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Samarin family operate a Russian restaurant and museum in the Guadalupe Valley. Russian immigrants arrived to escape czarist persecution. They started planting vineyards in the valley. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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